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The Middle and the Marginal

Sometimes my ideas for an inspirational reflection come in
odd ways.The idea for this piece
originated in the classroom.We were
discussing a section from Kathleen Norris’ book, The Cloister Walk, which is one of my favorite books.One of her paragraphs made reference to the
French phrase, point vierge.Because I have read her book a number of
times, I am familiar with the term.And
I also know that Thomas Merton, my favorite monk used the phrase in a very
significant way.

The French phrase is translated in various ways.Literally it means the “virginal point.”It suggests that time at dawn---the breaking
of the new day---when the light is just beginning to appear.It is the point where night meets day.It was used by Merton to talk about “the
still point.”All this I knew, but I was
still curious about the phrase.So I
chased my curiosity a little further.I
turn to Google, which magically and efficiently makes so much information
appear.

Many of the informational leads took me to something in
Merton.Much of this I already
knew.At some point I landed on a very
interesting piece of writing by Albert J. Raboteau, a Religion professor at
Princeton.The title of his work
captured my attention: “A Hidden Wholeness: Thomas Merton and Martin Luther
King, Jr.”Again, I know some of the
history of Merton and King.Ironically,
they both tragically died in 1968 in the very prime of their lives and careers.

Merton was living the life of a reclusive Trappist monk in
the middle of Kentucky and King obviously living a much more visible life in
Atlanta and traveling over the South.Both men were leaving distinctive marks on their world.And plans were well underway for King to
visit Merton at Gethsemani, the monastery, in the very near future.That visit never happened.So there are many interesting lines of
inquiry when we think about these two men.

It was at this point I read one of Raboteau’s
paragraphs.“Our Lady of Gethsemani Abbey and Dexter Avenue Baptist
Church, Catholic monasticism and Black Protestantism, two very different
locations and two very different traditions and yet, they did share a common
trait -- marginality.”This is such an
interesting and insightful idea.Indeed,
they both were marginal men.By contrast
I have spent virtually all of my life right in the middle---the middle of my
culture and my world.

Eagerly,
I read further.“Monks were marginal by
profession; they had rejected the ‘world.’ Blacks were marginalized by discrimination;
they were rejected by the dominant white society.”One was marginalized by choice.The other was marginalized by accident---the
accident of being born a black man.But
the marginalization they shared in common.And it helps me understand why they shared a vision for what the world
could become.

I
continued to read the amazing paragraph.“Both monasticism and the black church were profoundly extraneous to the
priorities and to the values of America in the 1950s.”I can remember the 50s, although I was
young.In those days I knew almost no
Catholics, certainly knew no monk or knew nothing about monasticism, and was
first-hand acquainted with the still overt racism of the day.And yet because I was in the middle of my culture
and world, I assumed the way I saw things was perfectly normal and
acceptable.I did not have the “eyes of
marginality.”

Raboteau
led me further to see.He says,
“Marginality provided Merton and King with the critical consciousness necessary
for radical dissent from the religious and political status quo. Moreover, the
contemplative tradition within monasticism, and the prophetic tradition within
Afro-American religion, furnished Merton, the contemplative, and King, the
prophet, with the spiritual insight necessary to articulate convincing critical
analyses of society and the religious experience necessary to ground their
prescriptions for social change in personal authenticity.”It was at this point I began to understand.

I
understand to be part of the status quo is the fate for those of us in the
middle.It is not inherently bad.But it is limited and, often, myopic
(nearsightedness).Most of us who grow
up “normal” are also “middle people.”One of the functions of authentic spirituality is to take us to the
margins.Jesus describes this process
when he told the disciples to deny themselves, take us their cross and
follow.The Apostle Paul uses the image
of dying to the old self in order to walk in the newness of life.

I
know for myself part of me wants a spirituality that makes no demands.I sometimes only want a spirituality that
leaves me comfortable in my status quo.People like me in the middle usually have quite a bit at stake to get
serious about being spiritual.We are
not willing to be prophetic like Merton and King.And yet something in me wants to read and
take these two guys seriously.

Maybe
I am ready to live in the middle and occasionally visit the marginal.At least that would be a start.It will take some practice, some patience and
some grace.

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